Covid-19 cases are continuing to rise across the UK, with the number of cases increasing by 18 per cent in the past week.
In England, one in 25 people now have the virus — up from one in 30 last week, according to the Office for National Statistics, which estimates 2.7 million people had the virus last week .
The figures are worse in Scotland, with one in 17 people having the virus, and in Wales one in 20.
The numbers are being driven by the milder but more infectious Omicron BA.5 variant.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that 2.7 million people in private households are estimated to have had Covid-19 last week, up 18 per cent from 2.3 million the previous week.
Meanwhile, the number of people in hospital in England who have tested positive for Covid-19 stood at 11,878 on July 7, up 33 per cent week-on-week.
The majority of people in hospital who test positive for Covid-19 are being primarily treated for something else, rather than the virus.
However, those with Covid-19 symptoms serious enough to require mechanical ventilator beds stood at 232 on July 7, up 10 per cent week-on-week, and the highest number for two months, although much lower than early pandemic peaks.
Some experts argue that as long as death rates remain low and intensive care beds are not filling up at an alarming rate, then allowing the infection to spread enables the pandemic to run its course in a heavily vaccinated population.
However, others are worried about the increasing number of NHS hospital admissions, the impact on health care staff, and the risk of serious illness in the immunosuppressed.
Leading statistician Dr David Spiegelhalter said on Friday that hospital admissions were “rising steeping and they are nearly at the level of previous peaks this year”.
According to the World Health Organisation this week, Europe is at the centre of the resurgence in Covid-19 infections as more people mix at large-scale events and travel.
Some NHS hospitals have brought back mask policies as they deal with a resurgence in cases.
Although the move is not legally enforceable, the trusts say there is a need to protect staff and patients from falling ill. More trusts are expected to follow suit.
Around one in six people aged 75 and over in England (16 per cent) have not received any doses of a Covid-19 vaccine in the past six months, putting them more at risk of severe disease.
It could lead to increasing pressure on hospitals in the coming months.
“We continue to see Covid-19 case rates and hospitalisations rise in all age groups, with the largest increases in hospitalisations and ICU admissions in those aged 75 and older," Dr Mary Ramsay, director of clinical programmes at the UK Health Security Agency, said.
There will probably be a substantial amount of waning immunity in older people who have not taken their spring booster on time.
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
